If you have a friend who cuts herself, you can't force her to stop. But you can let her know that you're there to help. It can be tough to remain calm when talking about it because it's such an upsetting subject, but it's very important to let your friend know that you care about her and that you don't think she's a bad person for doing this.

Find an adult whom your friend can trust. If your friend can't speak directly to the adult, maybe she can write about what she's doing in a letter or a journal that the adult can read. The important thing is to encourage her to talk to someone who can help her to stop the behavior and deal with her underlying problems. Ultimately, your friend will need to be assessed by a professional counselor or therapist who can recommend the best treatment plan for her. This may include a combination of behavioral therapy, medication such as fluoxetine or sertraline, and specialized treatment of associated problems such as eating disorders.

Some people have also found that using other means of relieving stress - like relaxation and breathing techniques, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, exercise, or art therapy - helps them to fight the urge to injure themselves.

Although cutting can be difficult to stop, it is possible. Once the self-abuser gets help in solving the problems that are at the root of the behavior, chances are good that she'll be able to stop hurting herself and lead a healthier, happier life.

Although self-cutters don't intend to hurt themselves permanently, they are at risk each time they injure themselves. They may misjudge the depth of a cut and require stitches (or, in extreme cases, hospitalization). Cuts can become infected because the person uses dirty cutting instruments (a self-cutter may use razors, scissors, pins, or even the sharp edge of the tab on a can of soda). If two people who are self-injurers cut themselves and share the cutting instrument, they risk spreading illnesses such as hiv disease and hepatitis.

Self-cutters often indicate that what they are doing makes suicide less likely because it relieves their depression. Sadly, though, those who cut themselves are more likely to commit suicide later if they don't get help with their underlying problems.

People who cut themselves often have other problems, too, like eating disorders, bipolar disorder, or drug or alcohol abuse. They're often trying to find ways of numbing their emotional pain and avoiding the problems that are behind their self-destructive behaviors.

You may be wondering why your friend's cat has suddenly turned vicious and is "scratching" her all the time. You may have a friend who frequently has cuts on his legs, and when you ask him why, he just mumbles something about getting caught in a sticker bush near his house. Both of these friends may be isolating themselves socially and may wear clothing that covers up their arms and legs, even in hot weather. (most self-cutters feel ashamed of what they're doing and try to hide it from their friends and families.) you may know someone who has a bad cut and is constantly picking at the scab or playing with it so much that it repeatedly reopens the wound.

Everyone gets hurt accidentally from time to time, but you should suspect self-cutting if your friend has a continuing pattern of unexplained (or poorly explained) cuts or scratches that never seem to heal. If you see this happening, you should seek help.